A lot of PR firms are stating that they have social media capabilities and can help develop your strategy in this arena. So I thought, how many are actually practicing what they’re preaching?

I decided to see which PR firms were actively participating in social media. [update 2/20/09] I initially evaluated PR firms listed on O’Dwyer’s list of top 100 independent PR firms. This list was based on worldwide fees for firms with major US operations. As such, some prominent firms, such as Ogilvy & Mather, Ketchum PR and others. Since this post was published, the list has been exanded to include firms that have proactively included information in the comments or email. It is now sorted alphabetically and includes different types of firms, such as IR, healthcare and technology.

Some points to keep in mind:

- I looked at if the agency had a blog, Twitter profile, Facebook page (both group and/or fan), LinkedIn Group

- While there are individuals within each agency who have great online presences, I was seeking corporate presence. So some fields may be marked as “none” as a result

- And since I did this myself, I was trying to maximize my time:

* I didn’t categorize the type of PR each firm did – I took the list at its word

* If the blog wasn’t listed on the home page or easily found via a sitemap, I assumed there was none or you don’t really want me to find your blog

* I searched on the agency’s name or common abbreviation as presented on their website. Anything more exotic or too cute, would not have been found

* For Twitter, I used Twitter search or tried to manually type in what seemed like an appropriate Twitter handle

* I used the group search functions found on Facebook and LinkedIn respectively

* I decided not to look at other sites like delicious, slideshare.net, flickr, etc., frankly, because I was doing this myself =); however, I did include it if the agency made it easy to find

Interesting Findings:

- Almost all of the agencies did NOT link to their profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. from their website. I would’ve expected this on their Contact Us page or linked from the Blog but this was very rare.

- While those who had blogs did a good job of putting the blog link front and center on the home page, some were too cute and hid the link under a different section of the website. If you’re one of these agencies and I found your blog regardless, it’s because it was listed on your site map.

- 39 agencies had blogs; 28 had Twitter profiles with one having a hashtag but no Twitter profile; 35 agencies had Facebook Group pages with two establishing fan pages; and 25 had LinkedIn Group pages while two created company pages

So let’s see how this little experiment works. If you’re a PR agency and I have incorrect information, please provide the corrections below or write a post that links back. I will then update the listing as quickly as I can. And if you have accounts with Flickr, YouTube and Slideshare.net, let me know.

But If you don’t have a social media presence, tell me why. I want to give folks the benefit of doubt. I was able to format the list into a table below captured the list in a jpg (couldn’t get it to format correctly, sorry!) or you can download a pdf version of this list. visit the public wiki and make changes to the table.

Table of PR Firms and Social Media Presence

Update: 2/19/09 – This table was updated to be in alphabetical order, includes additional PR firms not on the original list, and eliminates “none” from the table. You can also visit the PR Firms Social Media Public Wiki to make changes.

I don’t necessarily think that people use Social Media in the correct manner – people aren’t going to complete a target action from a social media profile, it is more important for general presence and backlinks.

You make a great point in this post. It’s important for PR firms, or any company for that matter, to practice what they preach. We’re currently developing and designing our new blog! In the meantime, we’ve got tons of employee-driven thought leadership on our website at http://www.blisspr.com/about_us/thought_leadership/blisspr_tl.php.

Having said that, BlissPR has taken a little bit of a different approach to Twitter. We understand that you searched for a ‘corporate presence’, but what we’ve done is allow our executives to act as individuals to provide thought leadership in industries they consider their areas of interest and expertise while fully identifying themselves as representatives of BlissPR. We hope that you’ll list them in your grid!

BTW Capstrat likes to let its voice be heard through its employees. We do not have an official “corporate” Twitter feed (as yet). You can connect with me,
@rharris, and others:
@kalbritton
@cord
@stevenkeith
@tarheelevan
@oombrella

Hi, This is Betsy Kelly from Rasky Baerlein. Thanks for this great article. We wanted to update you on our firm’s listing. We have a Facebook page at Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications. And we have several employees on Twitter. They include:
@betsykelly
@laurenChisolm
@bethbres13

Thanks for taking the time to identify the social media tactics used by top PR agencies!

Individual tactics like the ones you measured for are important for building brand awareness, but the one factor I think is often overlooked is the need to integrate each of these tactics into an overall digital media strategy that yields measurable results. Just having a twitter account or a blog does not necessarily equal social media savvy. Each tactic must complement the other so that conversations generated on a blog post, Twitter, or YouTube channel can be fully leveraged to support a coordinated messaging program.

For Levick Strategic Communication, we implemented a social media strategy that prioritizes a cohesive online presence across multiple platforms. For example, our Web site, http://www.levick.com features a link to our blog, http://www.BulletProofBlog.com, and our blog regularly posts thought pieces on crisis communications which we then publicize via several Twitter profiles. Thanks again for the great list and for the pitch for our blog – in addition to the blog presence you referenced please feel free to check out the following Levick profiles not listed on your chart:

I appreciated your post and learning more about how agencies are promoting themselves (and not just their clients) via social media. The comments and responses have been interesting as well. Our efforts thus far have been on behalf of clients and not our agency. We’ll certainly discuss the points that have been made here and weigh the pros and cons of having a corporate presence as well.

In the meantime, please note that you have an incorrect link associated with our agency name on your list. Our correct web address is provided in my reply.

[...] there was a blog post by Cece Salomon-Lee attempting to chart 100 independent PR agencies by how they use social media. It was a great idea, hamstrung by her insistence on corporate presences at the exclusion of [...]

I hope this isn’t repetitive – I left a comment earlier but it didn’t seem to go through – the ball just keeps spinning So here it is again … and thanks for your comment on my post as well.

The net net is that I said I elaborated on your post in my own blog yesterday (How Important is Social Media in PR: http://bit.ly/I4gne). Do agencies need a corporate presence or is it enough for individuals to have one from which they share both personal and professional information?

The answer to your question in the headline is simply, “No.” You shouldn’t. But not all clients need or want social media. So not all agencies are involved.

That being said, although we weren’t on O’Dwyer’s list (we keep revenues private and therefore don’t qualify), we are very active in social media and were just identified as such – and as 1 of just 6 PR firms “top considered” – in Jennifer Leggio’s (@mediaphyter) research survey – which she posted yesterday. We’ve found that our involvement in social media – beyond our work for clients – has led to phenomenal new relationships, engagement, education, opportunities, business development, partnerships and awareness. What agency wouldn’t want that for themselves? Just seems like common sense to me.

Thank you for your hard work on this list! I look forward to more research in the future.

@Rasmussen – you raise a good point. I thik the nature of “conversation” is different. I go to a corporate brand to hear about the company news, promotion and possibly their perspective on industry events, especially if I’m a customer, reporter, analyst, prospect and/or employee. As for an individual, the “conversation” may still cover these topics, but this puts a “personal” touch to my communication.

I don’t know if it’s a misuse of the term but maybe different interpretations.

@Ann thanks for taking time to discuss your programs. Please feel free to keep me updated and I will make the appropriate changes here and on the wiki.

@Rasmussen – I would expect a different conversation from each. And depending on what each said, I would want to interact with both. And in some cases, this can be the same in one. I believe that this applies to any company depending on the goals you’re seeking to achieve.

This is a very interesting post – as is the dialogue that has followed it! It’s a daunting task to try to catalogue the myriad social / conversation-driven activities of so many agencies. So kudos for taking this on!

I would note that most of us at CooperKatz are highly-engaged with a whole range of ‘social media’ (for want of a better word) channels. For example, there are lots of us on Twitter. You can follow me at @anneegreen. Additionally, most of us are very active on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social sites – which we use to connect with clients and business partners as well as personal contacts. In terms of a corporate-level Facebook or LinkedIn page for CooperKatz, we have never felt philosophically that this makes a lot of sense for an agency of our size. We tend to put the bulk of our focus relative to key conversations online, etc., on our clients and their industry sectors, influencers and issues. With that said, our Web site is definitely a ‘doctor, heal thyself’ situation – which is why we’re halfway through a major Web site redesign project. That new site will include a group blog platform, to which many folks here are looking forward to contributing. Again, philosophically, we’ve tried to avoid building ‘cults of personality’ around specific individuals, as we want our entire team and the results we have achieved for clients to be our strongest calling card. But we certainly also appreciate the comments above about being ‘present’ and a part of the conversation – particularly those held within our own PR / marketing communities.

[...] the PR and marketing blogs. Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester weighed in on a discussion originating at Cece’s blog as to whether a PR firm requires a high-profile, branded social media presence to legitimately [...]

I’m not entirely convinced that much of the offerings are actually social. The majority of blogs are little more than web 1.0 articles, not that well written for the medium: lacks sub-heads, too long, too promotional, not discussion…

LinkedIn is often not much more than a glorified contacts list + CV.

Corporate use of Twitter is 90% shouting ‘me me me my opinion’ and little real discussion. Yes some get it right (Innocent) most haven’t (Intel).

I am not sure just having a Twitter account or setting up a Facebook page is immersion in Social Media. There are a few platforms like GetSatisfaction that have strong possibilities.

Would I trust a PR company to do my social media at all is a good question?

They would have to understand the whole marketing mix and actively share ideas/content across the whole marketing community for a brand.

They would have to actively work with the digital agencies, brand agencies, media houses and advertising teams. Only then would the social strategy actually focus on the client rather than a PR empire.

If PR agencies are to do social media properly they need to work into client marketing teams rather than going their own way within a marketing plan – which is so often the case.

its not whether they are on Twitter, its whether they work in an integrated manner. Social Media is not that complex – integration is what takes the effort.

I have to agree with Max and Jennifer on his one. Laudable effort but mixed value.

As just one example: a huge firm like Edelman may be able to lay claim to 500 boggers, but is anybody listening? If a smaller firm has 5 influential bloggers (vs. 500 “meh” bloggers), is that accounted for by your methodology?

You also can’t alwyas be aware of an agency’s efforts. For example, working hand-in-glove with our client contacts, SHIFT has created and maintains Youtube channels and Facebook pages for some major brands: work that is relevant in terms of your study but which is not readily discoverable.

And lastly: there’s no accounting here for the quality, depth or success of these agencies’ efforts. In that vein, there seems to be no accounting for a firm’s reputation for effectiveness in this sphere, from clients’ (or the market’s) p.o.v., as Ms. Leggio recently looked at things: http://blogs.zdnet.com/feeds/?p=512 …

I agree that “use” of Social Media tools is important, but not enough to merit placement on an ordered list like this one.

Again, a laudable and linkbait-worthy concept, and you ask some good questions here, but I question the methodology’s long-term validity.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. Based on this feedback, I am planning to create a pbwiki page so agencies can proactively update their listing for BOTH corporate and invidual contributors. This page will include firms that were not on the original and will be in alphabetical order vs the original O’Dwyer’s top 100 indepedent firms from 2007. I hope to have this completed tonight for posting tomorrow (2/20/09) PST.

Great list CeCe. Good to see that Bite has been well represented but, in additional to our well populated corporate blog, BiteMarks, there are a few additional social media channels currently being used or developed.